Congressman Weighs Offer by Tawana Brawley to Testify at Hearing

By CLIFFORD D. MAY, Special to the New York Times

Published: August 31, 1988

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30—
The chairman of the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice is considering an offer by Tawana Brawley to testify before a Congressional hearing.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, an adviser to Miss Brawley, said in a telephone interview today that the offer was made at a private meeting Monday at the Capitol Hill office of the subcommittee chairman, John Conyers Jr., a Michigan Democrat.

''We indicated that she would tell publicly what happened,'' Mr. Sharpton said. ''Tawana was there and when I said she would testify, she nodded to indicate that she would.''

A spokesman for Mr. Conyers confirmed that such an exchange took place. ''The possibility of her testifying was raised and the Congressman is considering it,'' said Glenn Ivey, Mr. Conyers's legislative assistant. Newspaper Executives Attend

Mr. Conyers has declined to answer questions about the meeting.

Miss Brawley's testimony could come within the context of hearings on police misconduct in New York, a subject his panel has investigated in the past, according to Mr. Ivey.

The New York State Attorney General, Robert Abrams, who is in charge of the inquiry into the Brawley case, declined to comment today on the possibility that Miss Brawley, who has refused to cooperate with him, might tell her story in Washington. But an aide to Mr. Abrams said, ''It would be troubling if she were to testify at a Congressional hearing while a grand jury is still sitting.''

Mr. Abrams also would not say whether he thought it was improper for the chairman of the Criminal Justice panel to meet with Miss Brawley's fugitive mother, Glenda, as he did Monday. Mrs. Brawley was held in contempt and sentenced to jail after she defied a subpoena to appear before the grand jury. Two weeks ago, the grand jury also voted to subpoena Miss Brawley, but that subpoena has not been served.

Others at the meeting were the Brawleys' lawyers, C. Vernon Mason and Alton H. Maddox Jr,, and executives from four New York City black newspapers. The newspaper executives went to Mr. Conyers's office because they were concerned with the question of police misconduct in New York - particularly in light of the recent disturbance at Tompkins Square Park - and urged Mr. Conyers to open new hearings on the issue. #20 Minute Wait Outside Office The executives had scheduled a meeting with Mr. Conyers, and when the Brawleys and Mr. Sharpton also came, it created some confusion. The Brawleys at first were made to wait in the Congressman's outer office for 20 minutes before they were admitted to the meeting. During that time, Mr. Sharpton said today, a discussion took place over ''who was coming to the meeting and why.''

Mr. Ivey stressed that the Congressman had not sought a meeting with the Brawleys and that neither woman took part in the discussions.

The three-hour meeting, as well as another meeting earlier Monday with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, ''shows that it is not just radical fringe groups that are concerned with the Brawley case,'' Mr. Sharpton said. ''This puts a different tone on it.''

He added that he was ''absolutely satisfied'' with the Conyers meeting. ''We did not expect a commitment right away,'' he said, ''but we're very hopeful this will lead to the Brawleys testifying. Conyers can get what Abrams can't: Tawana's testimony.'' 'The Hearing Would Be Public'

The decision to turn to Mr. Conyers rather than to Mr. Abrams, Mr. Sharpton said, was not made on racial grounds. ''If Conyers were a white man, we would have made the same offer. The process at a Congressional hearing is different. The hearing would be public. Her testimony could not be miscontrued or twisted as in a private grand jury hearing. We don't trust the Abrams investigation.''

Mr. Abrams's office is in the process of writing a report of that investigation.

What is known so far, is that last Nov. 28, in the town of Wappinger, N.Y., after a four-day disappearance, Miss Brawley was found at her family's former apartment wrapped in a plastic bag, her hair cut and her body covered with dog feces and scrawled racial epithets.

Miss Brawley, then 15, indicated that she had been abducted and sexually attacked by a group of white men, one of whom carried a badge. 'Hate Crimes' Inquiry

Tests by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other authorities have found no evidence of rape or other attack. Investigators have also ruled out any involvement by three law-enforcement officials accused by the Brawleys' advisers.

Earlier this year, in connection with a criminal-justice subcommittee investigation into ''hate crimes,'' Mr. Conyers had been expected to ask the Justice Department to name a Federal prosecutor to investigate cases involving allegations of racism in the nation, including the Brawley incident.

But after speaking with Mr. Abrams by telephone about the Brawley investigation, Mr. Conyers was said to have assured the Attorney General of his ''total confidence'' and the request for a Federal prosecutor was not made.